Friday, January 24, 2014

VEA Lobby Day

Monday is VEA Lobby Day.It looks like the weather will be good – partly cloudy with a high of
48.Plus it will be the first day in the
Senate for the newly elected Jennifer Wexton of the 33rd Senate
District, and the recount for the 6th Senate District should be
completed.We will know by day’s end
whether the Republicans hold their majority, or the Democrats become the new
majority party in the Senate.Quite a
day!

For those of you who are coming in for Lobby Day, you may
wish to see in advance the message we will be asking you to take to the General
Assembly as you meet with your legislators:

Lobby Day – Orders for the Day

1.Urge
Support for the Salary Amendments

HouseDel.
Chafin136 11hSalary Supplement for Instructional and Support
Positions

Year 1 -
$241,300,000Year 2 - $242,300,000

SenateSen.
Puckett136 24sTeacher Compensation – 6% Increase

Year 1 -
$241,336,885Year 2 - $242,332,445

All Members

2.Medicaid Expansion

Medicaid
Expansion will free up $1.3 billion dollars in General Fund dollars over the
next 7 years, some of which can be used for funding our schools

·33,000 additional Virginia jobs

·Cover 191,000 uninsured Virginians

·End the hidden tax – higher insurance premiums
to pay for the uninsured

All
Members

3. Statewide Health Insurance

HouseDelegate Yost – HB 463 State health
plan; participation by employees of local school divisions.

Moving
to a statewide insurance option for local school divisions could save
millions of dollars in the years ahead. These savings could be used to provide
needed school funding. The Commonwealth would have much greater leverage in
rate negotiations with insurance providers than any one of the 132 individual
school divisions.JLARC estimates
savings of $44 to $66 million annually.

In
recognition of the well-documented health advantages of breastfeeding for
infants and mothers, this bill requires local school divisions to provide a
supportive environment to enable lactating employees "reasonable break
times" and private, non-restroom locations to express their milk during
the work day for the first year of the child's life.

In passing revisions to the teacher dismissal policies, the General
Assembly overreached by allowing only 5 days to file a dismissal
grievance.This brief window has the
unintended consequence of causing teachers to file before having the
opportunity for thoughtful reflection.Previously, 15 days had been allowed.VEA sees 10 days as a reasonable compromise.